With John Harbaugh all but set for his first year in New York as head coach, the Giants have made some aggressive signings in free agency. They have retained many of their players, including offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, linebacker Micah McFadden, wideout and kick returner Gunner Olszewski, LB Zaire Barnes, and others. There was also an expected signing of offensive lineman Evan Neal, who everyone thought would become an unrestricted free agent in the new league year.
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The Giants brought in Neal with their seventh overall pick in 2022, and since then, he never really showed out at tackle. He was then moved to guard, but he never quite caught on there either. At 6-foot-7 and 340 pounds, Neal struggles to keep his pad level low, which allows smaller, more explosive defenders to get under him and win with leverage.
He’s also vulnerable to inside counter moves, with his hand placement often coming under scrutiny. But Harbaugh believes Neal still has potential and was used incorrectly over the course of his rookie contract, which led to the team re-signing him. Still, that’s not the craziest part. The wildest part is the contract on which Neal is coming back to the team.
Neal signed a one-year, $1.2 million contract, with $0 guaranteed. Yes, you read that right. If he gets cut during training camp, he’ll have to walk away with nothing but memories. That has led some fans to joke that the guard’s agent should be fired, while others have chimed in with hilarious comments.
“0$ guaranteed? yeah set that man’s agent on fire and throw him into the sun,” one fan jokingly wrote. “Bro playing on a 1099 form,” another chimed in. And for those unaware, the 1099 form is an IRS tax document used to report non-employment income.
Bro playing on a 1099 form
— 83 and they Mad (@mikescriba) March 14, 2026
“Evan Neal really playing this entire year commission-based,” a third penned. “This the bengals front office’s dream,” a fourth hilariously wrote.
“This the most hilarious contract in NFL History,” another wrote.
$0 guaranteed in an NFL contract is very rare. It’s almost unheard of, to be honest. The last we heard of such a deal was when Russell Okung signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the Broncos. It could go up to $8 million with incentives, but none of that was guaranteed, similar to Neal.
These deals are very risky, and we can’t even say if they can be labeled a “prove-it” type deal. Regardless, Neal has quite an uphill battle in the next few months. Everything has to go right for him so that he can keep his NFL job, at least earn something, improve his draft stock and command a better contract next year.
